In one of the most important and beloved Latin American works of the twentieth century, Isabel Allende weaves a luminous tapestry of three gener... read full description
reviews
Dec 17, 2009
stephanie
rated it: 
haha, so my sophomore honors english teacher decided he wanted to read a book with us for the first time, so he asked our department head to recommend a book. we all died, because mr. wells could not deal with talking about sex, and mr. hackling knew this, and he assigned this book. i mean, a couple of pages in, there's all this graphic rape in the fields going on! and then there's the creepy ass count . . .
i really loved the book though. it's layered, it's complex, it's beautiful. More...
i really loved the book though. it's layered, it's complex, it's beautiful. More...
2 comments
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(15 people liked it)
Jul 09, 2008
Claudia
rated it: 
Gabriel Garcia Marquez comparisons aside, it's hard to review this book without references to the magical realism and the narrative styles of Latin America.
I truly believe that anyone not familiar with the above mentioned, would likely be a bit thrown, even put off by these influences. Still, this is a brilliantly written story, epic in its truest sense. Covering four generations of women (with a man as the common thread between them), it races through the simplicity of the old w More...
I truly believe that anyone not familiar with the above mentioned, would likely be a bit thrown, even put off by these influences. Still, this is a brilliantly written story, epic in its truest sense. Covering four generations of women (with a man as the common thread between them), it races through the simplicity of the old w More...
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(21 people liked it)
Mar 27, 2009
Lamski Kikita
rated it:
Allende's first and best work of art. The story of three generations of Trueba women that tells the history of a nation.
During the first 10 pages I was thinking to myself that there is way too much similarity on so many levels to One Hundred Years of Solitude, but why not, since it's the bible of Latin American magical realism?
In addition to Clara, the second Del Valle daughter who forsaw the future, communicated with spirits, and moved objects without touching them, an More...
During the first 10 pages I was thinking to myself that there is way too much similarity on so many levels to One Hundred Years of Solitude, but why not, since it's the bible of Latin American magical realism?
In addition to Clara, the second Del Valle daughter who forsaw the future, communicated with spirits, and moved objects without touching them, an More...
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(11 people liked it)
Dec 14, 2008
Nicole
rated it: 
I have a really hard time getting into magic realism, I'm more of a realism-realism kind of gal myself, so I was surprised when I started semi getting into this. Although, characteristically, I got more into the less magic/more realistic parts of the novel. I think this book wants to be some type of a feminist novel, but it falls short in so many ways. Now, I am not the type of feminist who goes out looking for feminist novels (big Roth fan here, actually) but I do have a problem with anything t
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(7 people liked it)
Feb 05, 2008
Garrett
rated it:
Wow, what a remarkable novel. All over the book's jacket and in online reviews you'll find comparisons to Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude--rightfully so, I think. Both novels span decades and generations of families and are written in the magical realism style.
I can't say that I loved 100 Years of Solitude, but The House of the Spirits is certainly the best book I've read this year, my favorite book I've read this year.
I loved each character, particularly the women whose lives are t More...
I can't say that I loved 100 Years of Solitude, but The House of the Spirits is certainly the best book I've read this year, my favorite book I've read this year.
I loved each character, particularly the women whose lives are t More...
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(7 people liked it)
Mar 12, 2009
Chandra
rated it:
I remember starting this once and becoming utterly disgusted with something in the first chapter and I put it away for many years. It just wasn't the right time. This is why I firmly believe that instead of slogging through a book you aren't enjoying you should put it down. Maybe you will return to it one day and discover something, maybe not, but in any event it's better than torturing yourself.
Later, I got hooked on Allende through her more recent novels and eventually returned More...
Later, I got hooked on Allende through her more recent novels and eventually returned More...
Dec 22, 2010
Jana
rated it:
Trueba family is impressive. I enjoyed this book so much. It’s huge, eccentric, emotional, spiritual and historical. It’s magnificent. Characters are deep, mystical, love and hate for each other is binding them all.
4 generations of strong women lived in this turbulent South American country - Chile, within memories and spirits, hard and painful life and difficult men, with Esteban Trueba as the constant leader of the pack. The story itself is so deep, as each one of them has a diffe More...
4 generations of strong women lived in this turbulent South American country - Chile, within memories and spirits, hard and painful life and difficult men, with Esteban Trueba as the constant leader of the pack. The story itself is so deep, as each one of them has a diffe More...
Jun 26, 2007
Danika
rated it:
Allende is someone usually found in the hands of women. I think she can be for everyone. The mixture of country, unrest, family, culture and the occult are perfect. I think the fact that Isabelle Allende is the daughter of Salvador Allende Gossens only adds to the richness of her history and in turn her writing.
Side note: Salvador Allende Gossens was the president of Chili from 1970 to 9/11 1973 when he was assassinated in a coup d'état. Parties involved with the overthrow: Augusto Jo More...
Side note: Salvador Allende Gossens was the president of Chili from 1970 to 9/11 1973 when he was assassinated in a coup d'état. Parties involved with the overthrow: Augusto Jo More...
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 24, 2011
Cenoura do Lado
rated it:
Li este livro em adolescente e é daqueles que deixam resÃduos na memória. Ou seja, não nos lembramos da história completa mas lembramo-nos que deixou muito boa impressão.
:)
:)
Jan 08, 2009
elisa
rated it:
i can't do it. it only deserves 2 stars.
i tried to force myself to give this book 3 stars, but it was a really disappointing read for me. i came in with high expectations, remembering that i absolutely loved this book when i last read it in high school. (and i'm glad i did, because i have gone on to love isabel allende.) but if i hadn't read more of her works, and this was the only book of hers that i'd read, i might not keep reading. it's interesting that what stayed with me fro More...
i tried to force myself to give this book 3 stars, but it was a really disappointing read for me. i came in with high expectations, remembering that i absolutely loved this book when i last read it in high school. (and i'm glad i did, because i have gone on to love isabel allende.) but if i hadn't read more of her works, and this was the only book of hers that i'd read, i might not keep reading. it's interesting that what stayed with me fro More...
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(1 person liked it)
May 10, 2008
Nian
rated it:
I really wish I could say this is an amazing book, worthy of so much thoughtful praises, etc., but that would just be a lie. Given how much I enjoy good writing—and this book definitely has it all, like a beautifully crafted essay that speaks with prominent characters and conflicts between generations of families—it’s kind of weird for me to say this book is just okay. I mean, the only thing I like from this entire book is the language: the metaphors, descriptions, the lines that sound so poetic
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4 comments
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(6 people liked it)
Dec 06, 2008
Robert
rated it: 
Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits (Knopf, 1985)
The House of the Spirits has set a new record at Goat Central. I have been trying to read this book for three years. Three solid years (well, just shy. Another two weeks and I would have made the anniversary). Why did I keep trying? Because when I'm actually reading it, it's not half bad. But every time I put it down, there is nothing, not a single thing, about it that makes me want to pick it up again. So I'll end up going six to More...
The House of the Spirits has set a new record at Goat Central. I have been trying to read this book for three years. Three solid years (well, just shy. Another two weeks and I would have made the anniversary). Why did I keep trying? Because when I'm actually reading it, it's not half bad. But every time I put it down, there is nothing, not a single thing, about it that makes me want to pick it up again. So I'll end up going six to More...
Aug 14, 2007
Michael
rated it:
Ingeniously intertwined story, epic in all respects, covering three plus generations, filled to the brim with rich characters, immense heart, and fantastic imagination. Perfectly blends latin melodrama romance with matriarchal power, the corruption of power and the male species, the suppression of women, the power of love, the power of an opinion, politics, history, social commentary, dictatorship, the effects of time, the power of family, and the almost supernatural feeling that can exist betwe
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 22, 2009
Olga
rated it:
This book gave me insomnia when I was reading it, I was so unsettled and fascinated by it. The setting is beautiful and dramatic and the atmosphere is magical. The politics are horrible, typical Latin American stuff, and Allende should know, as a close relative of the murdered socialist Chilean president, Salvador Allende.
It's an incredible family saga, a powerful history of characters plagued by their own, I guess, characters. You hate some and you admire some, still, they are all intere More...
It's an incredible family saga, a powerful history of characters plagued by their own, I guess, characters. You hate some and you admire some, still, they are all intere More...
Dec 17, 2009
Naeem
rated it:
With Marquez, the book is nothing short of an effort to redefine the relationship between time, space, and consciousness. Many find this a kind of glorified soap-opera. This is a misreading. Allende is trying to provide a third world redefinition of the relationship between freedom and determinacy, between history and consciousness, between fact, fiction, and the truth, between past, future and the now.
By all means enjoy the story -- and then let it seep into your theoretical life More...
By all means enjoy the story -- and then let it seep into your theoretical life More...
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(2 people liked it)
May 24, 2007
Gwen
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book. A lot of people compare it to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, and while I see the similarities, I think this book has its own distinct story. Magical realism is a style used by many Latin American writers (or so I've been told), so I can't believe that the two books are the same based on that similarity alone. Additionally, the development of characters and the use of first person narration by Allende in parts of the book gives it more depth of
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(2 people liked it)
Jun 21, 2008
Lynn
rated it:
A weighty 'tome' indeed, and I was not always convinced by the translation, which had me re-reading sentences and phrases. The abundance of detail and lists is somewhat overwhelming, and I never really got a handle on the personalities of the first 3 women in the saga, though Alba, the final 'heroine' seems more real. Maybe that's the point, though, and I very much liked the sentiments expressed in the epilogue, to the effect that revenge is futile, and that it is essential to break that cruel
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(1 person liked it)
Sep 27, 2010
Teresa
rated it: 
This book, Allende s first novel, follows the fictional Trueba family through four generations. Astute readers who know something of Chilean history will no doubt recognize that the family history echoes the 20th-century history of Chile, which Allende s own family was part of. Her father s cousin was Salvador Allende, the president of Chile who was overthrown by a coup d état in 1973. In her novel about this period, Isabel Allende fictionalizes these events, using different names, which allo
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Jan 15, 2009
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
I really enjoyed this book. I read it shortly after writing a paper relating to the Pinochet dictatorship, and I have always had a special interest in Chile, so that probably influenced my opinion. Nonetheless, I believe I would have liked it anyway-- it was a creative and interesting novel. Because of the limited availablity in my local libary, the particular book I read was a large print edition, but I don't believe there were any changed to the t More...
I really enjoyed this book. I read it shortly after writing a paper relating to the Pinochet dictatorship, and I have always had a special interest in Chile, so that probably influenced my opinion. Nonetheless, I believe I would have liked it anyway-- it was a creative and interesting novel. Because of the limited availablity in my local libary, the particular book I read was a large print edition, but I don't believe there were any changed to the t More...
Dec 18, 2011
Sue
rated it:
Favorite Quotes:
"Despite her tender age and complete ignorance of matters of this world, Clara grasped the absurdity of the situation and wrote in her notebook about the contrast of her mother and her friends, in their fur coats and suede boots, speaking of oppression, equality and rights to a sad, resigned group of hard-working women in denim aprons, their hands red with childblains. From the factory the ladies would move on to the tearoom on the Plaza Le Armas, where they wou More...
"Despite her tender age and complete ignorance of matters of this world, Clara grasped the absurdity of the situation and wrote in her notebook about the contrast of her mother and her friends, in their fur coats and suede boots, speaking of oppression, equality and rights to a sad, resigned group of hard-working women in denim aprons, their hands red with childblains. From the factory the ladies would move on to the tearoom on the Plaza Le Armas, where they wou More...
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(1 person liked it)
Nov 27, 2011
Mandi
rated it:
It was an easy book to read, but I never felt like I was reading something that was truly on the level of great literature.
There was too much that just didn’t come together in a meaningful way. There were many details that felt like they happened only because the author made the decision that that detail would occur, but for no other reason. For example, there is a line that says how Clara had decided not to marry for love. And why not? No motivation for such a decision is ever More...
There was too much that just didn’t come together in a meaningful way. There were many details that felt like they happened only because the author made the decision that that detail would occur, but for no other reason. For example, there is a line that says how Clara had decided not to marry for love. And why not? No motivation for such a decision is ever More...
Nov 15, 2011
Javer
rated it:
Isabel Allende's The house of the spirits relates a story about Valle family for some generations. The main characters are Clara and Rosa the youngest and oldest daughter in the family. Clara has some a wierd power that lets her foresee the future. This is both an advatage and a disadvatage for her. One time she foresees the death of her sister, an event that will traumatize her for many years. Allende does a great job at keeping the reader interested in the plot while feeding the story many mor
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Nov 05, 2011
Mivembre
rated it:
What a beautiful book!
I think one of the reasons this story resonates so strongly with me is that it reminds me of my own family. I love the strong women who are, despite their roles as mothers and housewives, still active and important members or their communities. I identify with characters to whom motherhood is important, who love and cherish their children in their own unique ways, who are defined by their relationships but who also define them. I like that each character play More...
I think one of the reasons this story resonates so strongly with me is that it reminds me of my own family. I love the strong women who are, despite their roles as mothers and housewives, still active and important members or their communities. I identify with characters to whom motherhood is important, who love and cherish their children in their own unique ways, who are defined by their relationships but who also define them. I like that each character play More...
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(2 people liked it)
Sep 18, 2011
Emily
rated it:
Filled with magical realism, this novel creates a dream-like experience for the reader. Allende continually uses the narrative technique of magical realism to blur the distinction between reality and fantasy. She uses supernatural elements in the midst of real occurrences. Magical realism is something I have not used very much in my own writing because I find it challenging to use the style without making it seem too fantastical. However, it is a technique I would like to explore and try out.
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Aug 23, 2011
Jennie
rated it:
Stories of a family down through the generations can be amazing or awful. This one was amazing. In turns amusing, tragic, violent, sometimes devastatingly romantic. Must be read in Spanish! Somehow, I managed to forgive Allende for brutally murdering one of my favorite characters.
The tale is told by the granddaughter, who is retracing her family's history, starting with her grandmother's childhood, when it becomes evident that she has psychic and telekinetic powers. Through the deca More...
The tale is told by the granddaughter, who is retracing her family's history, starting with her grandmother's childhood, when it becomes evident that she has psychic and telekinetic powers. Through the deca More...
Jun 12, 2011
Harmonybites
rated it:
I wanted to like this, but found myself liking the book less and less as I turned the pages. It may just be that Magical Realism isn't a technique that resonates with me--though I hope it's just Allende's use of it I don't like, and I'm determined to try Borges, GarcÃa Márquez, and Vargas Llosa someday. I did enjoy Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate, which used this technique, although it's no favorite. But there at least the fantasy elements were woven smoothly throughout and it was apt in a b
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Jun 09, 2011
Kristin
rated it:
For a book that is required for my Global Literature class, it was actually so much better than I had expected. The House of the Spirits has so much drama it's worse than the life of a teenager. Here's a quick plot summary. Clara ends up marrying her "brother in law", Esteban. Oh, and Clara has magical powers that predicted the death of someone in the family, who just happened to be her sister. Esteban has this crazy anger issue and lashes out whenever something doesn't go his way. The
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Jun 02, 2011
Kristy
rated it:
Theme:
The overall theme in this book is Family roles. Throughout this book, it talks about the events that occurred during the members of one family, starting with the De Valles and continued with the Truebas. It’s mainly about whom you are, and what your position is in that family/ In this book, Esteban Trueba owns the role of being the boss. Esteban Trueba is the leader of the Trueba family; he does not let anyone conquer his place in leadership. He makes sure everyone is playing t More...
The overall theme in this book is Family roles. Throughout this book, it talks about the events that occurred during the members of one family, starting with the De Valles and continued with the Truebas. It’s mainly about whom you are, and what your position is in that family/ In this book, Esteban Trueba owns the role of being the boss. Esteban Trueba is the leader of the Trueba family; he does not let anyone conquer his place in leadership. He makes sure everyone is playing t More...
